To improve lagging sales, he revamped the standard eggs, bacon and French toast menu to give it more of the Refinery?s playful touch.

First he added the ?John Denver,? which had red curry-braised pork shoulder, sunny side-up eggs and braised greens on an open-faced biscuit. ?Sunshine on my shoulder?

Then came the ?Alice in Wonderland?-inspired ?Walrus and the Carpenter,? which pairs an oyster cake, paprika braised cabbage and cornbread. That?s covered by poached eggs and an Old Bay hollandaise sauce.

The response was nearly immediate. The restaurant went from only needing two people to work brunch to hiring additional workers to handle the crush of reservations.

?We haven?t seen a slowdown since then,? McHugh says. ?Most Sundays are fully booked before we open the doors.?

Brunch, once a staple of buffet food troughs and vacation resorts, is being reinvented by restaurants around the Tampa area with a creativity and artistry usually reserved for nighttime dining. This weekend, customers will flood restaurants to celebrate Easter, the biggest day of the year for brunch.

During the rest of the year, the meal is taking on new flavors that merge traditional forms with ethnic ingredients. Across the country, diners are finding scrambled eggs mixed with chorizo and coconut milk pancakes served with Asian-flavored syrups, U.S. News & World Report says.

?It would amaze you how well poutine sells at lunch,? says Ted Dorsey, executive chef at Boca Kitchen Bar & Market in Tampa. The restaurant offers brunch on Saturday and Sunday mornings.

One of Boca?s signature menu items, the staff meal, allows him the most freedom to experiment. The Hangover Panini, a sandwich with house-made sausage and bacon, caramelized onions, scrambled chicken eggs and gruyere was so popular it had to be put on the permanent menu.

A Cuban Eggs Benedict made with Cuban bread, house-smoked ham, a Tabasco lime hollandaise sauce and poached duck eggs sold 45 orders in 45 minutes. Dorsey remembers because he worked the kitchen?s egg station that day.

?I really love brunch,? Dorsey says. ?After two years of doing it, it is insane. It starts the moment you open the door. I?ve never seen anything like it. I?ve never done 250 to 300 people a la carte brunches in thee hours like we do at Boca.?

On St. Pete Beach, Sunday morning customers fill Ruthie Buxbaum?s Steam and Chill restaurant on Gulf Boulevard. Her brunch showcases a range of unusual items, including a Caprese Omelet, Bananas Foster French toast, Blue Crab Benedict and shrimp and grits with cheese, Andouille sausage and a fried egg.

Todd Sturtz, author of the new book ?Food Lovers? Guide to Tampa Bay, (Globe Pequot Press, $14.95), is a fan of the brunch at Love?s Artifacts Bar & Grille on MacDill Avenue in Tampa. He goes for the southern breakfast of fried chicken, scrambled eggs, biscuits and gravy for $9.95, or $16.95 with unlimited access to mimosas,

?That?s a pretty stellar offer,? Sturtz says.

Another favorite he writes about in the book is at Oystercatchers in the Grand Hyatt Hotel on Bayport Drive overlooking Tampa Bay. The brunch – ?an absolute feast,? he writes – runs from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Sundays. A traditional champagne brunch, it nonetheless is is done with great flair, with fresh seafood, omelet and pasta stations, desserts and Bloody Marys. The brunch costs $49 per adult, or $27.50 for children 4 to 11 years old.